SBIR-STTR Award

The technical objective is to deliver an improved, low cost, hands-free communication system for use in many military high noise environments but with particular benefit to warfighters on-the-run or in special situations. The goal is accomplished by relying on a (dental) bone conduction communication pathway which is generally insensitive to the high noise which exists in the air environment and air communication pathway. The system uses a novel transducer which: (1) Acts as both a sensor (microphone) and actuator (receiver for listening), (2) Is firmly attached to the teeth, and (3) Is linked through a wireless intraoral transceiver to a body worn larger transceiver. The system shall be called the TAS, for Tooth Actuator / Sensor. Prior research has shown that a similar system delivers greater than 80% speech intelligibility in Modified Rhyme Testing in high noise (85-100 dBA). It is anticipated that the completed system will provide 92% speech intelligibility in extreme noise conditions (115-140 dBA).

Benefits:
The anticipated commercial potential of the TAS initially is for use in high noise environments including aviation, firefighting and heavy machinery. Another market could be based on the TAS covert features, implying benefit to law enforcement groups. If the human factors performance is exceptional, then the TAS may represent the next generation of telephone-human interface.

The technical goal of the project is to deliver a hands-free, two-way communication system which provides speech intelligibility of 92% on the Modified Rhyme Test in extreme high noise environments (115-125dBA). The objective is achieved by delivering a battery powered transceiver which provides communication through the dental bone conduction pathways of speech and hearing. This pathway is significantly less sensitive to ambient noise than communication systems used currently in extreme noise environments. The communication system is called the Tooth Actuator Sensor or TAS Communication System. The novel components of the system are: (1)An intraoral battery powered transceiver capable of send and receive; (2) An actuator-sensor based on an innovative design; (3) An extraoral transceiver capable of interfacing to a COTS two-way radio. The TAS should be capable of providing communication while on-the-run or under a wide variety of facemasks